Motocross Maniacs Advance is Konami's follow-up to its original
Motocross Maniacs for the Game Boy. For those who aren't familiar with
that game, this motorcycle racing game is hardly what you would consider
realistic. It retains the classic look that you find in old consoles
from a decade ago; side-scrolling 2D in nature with colorful characters
and vibrant backgrounds. So much time has past on the GBA platform that
Konami must have made a conscious decision to eschew graphic trends
towards realism. Instead, the developers chose to impress fans with a
host of new features and multiplayer options to turn this into one of
those rare 'party' games for the GBA.

At its heart, Motocross still involves racing motorcycles which are
depicted quaintly on the GBA screen. Your bike and your competitors'
bikes are all traveling on their own level so you can pass through each
other with ease. This is a great decision on the GBA (although I know
it wasn't made for it) because of the cramped real estate space but it
also gives the feeling that you're just racing with ghosts. The fact
that the racer artificial intelligence is relatively predictable does
not help much. Motocross clearly benefits from humans substituting for
the computer players.

In the beginning, racers like Motocross were a dime a dozen. The first
generation games only featured racing. You'd basically try to get from
point A to point B on a few tracks. Motocross has this in the form of
traditional time attack and championship modes. Expansion and sequels
of racing games would involve new tracks. Then, developers began adding
powerups like weapons for you to use to impede others. Motocross is
highly developed in a similar vein with multiple party-like games, new
thematic courses, custom characters with special racing traits and just
about everything you could ever think of thrown into a 2D racer.

The variants themselves are pretty entertaining diversions. For
example, it includes a game of hot potato; only the potato this time
around is a bomb that will blow up at the race's end. There's also
another game called Zombie Attack where you have to destroy as many
zombies as possible within a few laps. These unorthodox racing games
make up for the lackluster graphics. In the final analysis, ironically,
despite the bundle of extras, you will still think the developers are
trying to stretch this franchise unnaturally. The depth for this type
of game can only go so much.

The visuals certainly reflect this mentality. They are by no means
bland or drab in color but my criticism is with the animation,
especially when you accelerate. The graphics engine behind this might
have been reworked for the GBA but at fast speeds, it's like a car
outfitted with some heavy duty custom turbo chargers. The speed the
developers give you, especially with nitro is not just fast. It's hyper
in an uncontrolled manner. Being a 2D game, the GBA doesn't produce any
hiccups displaying this but it gives off an unnatural scrolling effect
and because the camera is scrolling just as fast, it makes it harder to
control your bike.

It's difficult to expect something serious from Motocross. I imagine
that's not the selling point of the game. That's why I think it's more
like a party game. With so many variants and the ability to play the
game from one cartridge or multiple ones, it's a game that can be
enjoyed by a variety of friends. Easy to pick up, I came in first place
at the bomb tag game the first time I tried it and I didn't even have to
read the three line instruction to do so. Its light-hearted approach is
suitable to that type of play and I imagine Motocross will find a good
niche there because of its Saturday morning cartoon treatment of
motorcycle racing. It's up to you if you're looking for anything beyond
that.